When Success Fails to Deliver

I spend a lot of time with guys who have arrived. They’ve met their goals. They’ve won the competition, earned the degree, surpassed an income goal, created a massively profitable business, achieved enviable status, built the house, bought the Porsche, lost the weight, ran the marathon, overcome the addiction, survived cancer, hunted the Super Slam, or sailed the Caribbean. Yet, as they finish their stories, their eyes are empty, void of any sign of satisfaction, fulfillment, or contentment.

These men have scraped, scrapped, and sacrificed to succeed. They have suffered while friends played. They have endured with unshakable focus and passion. They have worked to make their dreams come true. They have earned their way. They have missed countless invitations and opportunities to pursue their dreams. And yet, here they are, in a counseling office – unhappy, discouraged, often angry or depressed.

Most of these men have been in church for years. They’ve asked God for help. They’ve turned to Jesus when they needed financing, surgery, encouragement, or opportunity. They’ve told him that if they just had that one need fulfilled then they’d be back on track. They’ve thanked Jesus when they got a good prognosis, weathered the storm, or avoided an embarrassing situation. They’ve even shared their wealth while they built bigger barns. Yet, they feel lonely, frustrated, and disillusioned.

They’ve made achieving their goals, and perhaps the path to doing so, their savior. Of course, they would never say that. But they have long told themselves that once they reached their goals, they’d be happy, fulfilled, and at peace. Now, they have the trophies, stories, and toys they’ve always wanted, and they are unhappy, empty, and angry. They turned a dream into a savior, and it turned on them.

Jesus foresaw their predicament. Consider this story…

On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal. And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.” Luke 5:17-26

What do you think these men were hoping as they brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus?

Don’t you think this man dreamed of walking?

Jesus did heal him. Yet, Jesus started with, “…your sins are forgiven,” rather than simply making this man’s dream come true.

Clearly this initial response offended some people then, just as it offends some people now when our sin and faith issues are addressed before our hopes & dreams.

This guy had an obvious problem. He couldn’t walk. His friends had a clear purpose. They went to great lengths to pursue an honorable goal. But Jesus is, in effect, telling them to go deeper.

He addressed what only he could - the man’s sin issue. When most of us think of sin, we think of a list of forbidden behaviors. But a more Biblical perspective of sin is choosing how to live our lives apart from God’s input. Jesus is suggesting that when any dream, no matter how noble, replaces him as our source of refuge, strength, and hope, it will fail to deliver.

This man desperately wants to walk. He’s sure that he’ll never be unhappy again if he can just walk. Yet, Jesus knows how quickly that contentment will fade if that’s all he does for this man.

We’ve been there.

We think if we just get __________, then everything will be okay. We’ve turned the object of our desire into our savior. Our desire is not the problem. Who could blame the man for wanting to walk? Success is not the problem. Focus, commitment, resilience, sacrifice, hard work, and passion are noble, respectable traits. It’s the belief that they will heal us that creates disillusionment.

Success is worth pursuing. But only Jesus will bring peace. Only Jesus will bring fulfillment. Only Jesus will give you lasting joy and hope. Success may be worth pursuing, but it will not deliver what you crave most.

When we let Jesus take us deeper,

when we let him heal us and save us from ourselves,

when we trust him to fulfill us,

then we can pursue success without depending on it to deliver what only Jesus can.

Thanks for Reading,

John